Diamondbacks get by Padres in extras

Tyson Ross was marvelous but Padres offer little offense and Arizona does just enough to win in overtime

Padres starter Tyson Ross pitched eight innings of outstanding baseball, but had already been pulled for a pinch hitter by the time the Friars gave him any run support. In fact, the Padres struck out 17 times while dropping a 12-inning game to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 2-1, on Tuesday.

Diamondbacks pitcher Wade Miley had yet to notch a win against the Padres with four loses to them on the season, but you wouldn’t have guessed that on Tuesday. Miley went scoreless six innings giving up just four hits and a walk while striking out seven.

Meanwhile, Ross was just as effective except for one unfortunate pitch in the top of the sixth inning to Paul Goldschmidt. The National League leader in home runs added to his total, taking Ross deep on a fastball he would undoubtedly like to have back. It was Goldschmidt’s 36th of the season.

In the bottom of the eighth inning with a pitch count of only 90, Ross was lifted for pinch-hitter Mark Kotsay, and it paid off with a single. With Reymond Fuentes pinch running for Kotsay, Chris Denorfia singled and the Padres were threatening.

Two outs later, Denorfia and Fuentes were on second and third and Diamondbacks relief pitcher walked Chase Headley to face Tommy Medica. The official scorer had it as a passed ball, but it looked more like a wild pitch that got past catcher Miguel Montero and Fuentes came home and the score was tied 1-1.

Nothing much happened for a while. The Padres sent out Huston Street for an inning and Tim Stauffer for a couple, and meanwhile, Arizona paraded out four more pitchers after the three they had used previously.

In the top of the twelfth inning, Luke Gregerson came in, and with one out, allowed a double to Chris Owings and then a triple to Didi Gregorius to plate Owings, and the Diamondbacks took the lead, 2-1. The Padres had no answer in the bottom of the frame, as Brad Ziegler notched his 12th save by setting down the Padres in order.

Tyson Ross had a wasted effort, giving up just three hits and three walks while striking out six, with the home run his only real blemish. Regardless of how good some Padres pitchers might be, striking out 17 times – even in a 12-inning game – while getting shut out, isn’t going to help the cause next season if the trend continues.

There are times that the offense for the Padres can be prolific, but the bats aren’t consistently good. While most baseball people agree that winning starts with good pitching, the Padres are some good proof that it ends with good hitting. And the Padres currently don’t have enough of that.

Notes:

Ronny Cedeno is still not well, he wasn’t in the lineup on Tuesday. According to Corey Brock of mlb.com, manager Buddy Black indicated that Cedeno was still woozy and still had a headache after getting hit in the helmet with a fastball on Monday. Also according to Brock, Will Venable might still play in the five remaining games of the season. Venable was also held out on Tuesday, but Black is hopeful that Venable will see some action between now and Monday.

Wednesday, the Diamondbacks and Padres play the third game of the four-game series. Ian Kennedy (3-2, 4.47) will pitch for the Padres and face his former teammate Randall Delgado (5-6, 3.96). Game time is 7:10 PM PDST, heard on radio 1090 AM and seen on Fox Sports San Diego. Wednesday is $1 soda night, if you’re into sodas. I’m holding out for $1 beer night to see how packed that Petco Park can actually get, but I’m not holding my breath.

Comments

Hey David, Before the Pads say bye for the season, can you explain what a pitcher's ERA - Earned Run Average is all about? How is it measured? Based on your reports, I assume the lower the # the better? I look like an idiot not being able to explain to my kids.

Sure. Earned Run Average is the average amount of EARNED (not by errors or other such anomalies) runs scored assuming the pitcher pitched a nine inning game. In other words, if a pitcher has an ERA of 3.00, it means that over 9 innings, the pitcher allows an average of three earned runs. Andrew Cashner is finished for the year, so we can take his ERA for the 2013 season is 3.09. Cash pitched 175 innings and allowed 60 earned runs. Take 60 (runs) divided by 175 (innings) and you get .343 (rounded up) runs per inning. Multiply that by 9 (inning) and you get 3.087 and baseball rounds that up to 3.09. Hope that helps, and it's not an idiot question at all. ERA is probably the most important statistic a starting pitcher can have, even more so in this day and age than actual wins.